Specify whether a browser will be launched by running its executable file or through the default system command.

Appoint the default WebStorm browser in which WebStorm will open HTML files upon request by default, that is, when no browser is specified explicitly.

Browsers

In this section, specify which browsers will be available for previewing HTML output. The section shows a predefined list of browsers, possibly extended with previously configured custom browser installations. Each browser is presented as a separate table row.

WebStorm is shipped with a predefined list of most popular browsers which you may like to install and use. The items are added to the list in advanced and are not based on the information on actually installed browsers. WebStorm presumes that you install browsers according to a standard procedure. Based on this assumption, each browser in this predefined list is assigned an alias which stands for the path to its executable file, as WebStorm supposes it to be. If in your actual browser installation the path to the executable file is different, you need to specify it explicitly in the Path field.

In addition to the predefined browsers, you can configure as many custom browser installations as you need using the controls on the toolbar.

Column

Description

Active

Select this check box to enable the use the respective browser from WebStorm. The browser will be added to the context menu of the Open in Browse menu item and its icon will be displayed in the Browsers pop-up toolbar.

If this check box is cleared, the corresponding browser icon will not appear in the icons toolbar or pop-up menu.

Name

In this column, specify the browser name.

Family

In this column, specify the family to which the browser belongs.

Path

In this column, specify the path to the executable. If the browser was installed according to a standard installation procedure, most likely the alias shown in the Path field points at the right location of the executable file. To specify the path explicitly, click in the Path field and choose the actual location of the executable file in the dialog box that opens. In the dialog that opens, choose the path to the executable file of the corresponding browser.

Toolbar

Item

Description

Click this button to add a custom browser to the list.

Click this button to delete the selected customer browser from the list. Note that you cannot delete the browsers from the predefined list.

Click this button to specify a custom profile for Firefox or a browser of the Chrome family. The button is available only when Firefox and Chrome are selected.

Path to "profiles.ini": in this text box, specify the location of the profiles.ini file, which determines the Firefox profile to be used.

Profile: from this drop-down list, select the desired predefined profile to use. Learn more at Firefox browser profile.

In the Chrome Settings dialog box:

Command line options: In this text box, enter the command line options to launch an instance of Chrome. If you need more space, click , or press Shift+Enter to open the editor box. Learn more about Chrome command line options by opening chrome://flags in Chrome.

Use custom profile directory: Select this check box to define a user-specific Chrome profile to use and specify the location of the chrome-user-data directory, which determines the Chrome profile to be used. Learn more about Chrome profiles at Multi-profiles.

Use these buttons to move the selected browser up or down in the list. The order of browsers is important for rendering external resources and previewing files with Web contents.

Click this button to create a copy of the selected browser.

Default Browser

In this section, specify the default WebStorm browser that will be used by default for rendering external resources and previewing files with Web contents. This browser will be referred to as Default in the context menu when you choose View | Open in Browser on the main menu or Open in Browser on the context menu of a file.

Item

Description

Default browser

Select the default browser from the drop-down list. The possible options are:

System default: Select this option to accept your operating system default Web browser as default for WebStorm.

First listed: Select this option to have WebStorm launch the first browser in the list. Change the order or browsers using the and icons on the toolbar.

Custom path: Select this option to specify another Web browser as default for WebStorm. Type the path to the executable file of the browser or click and select the path in the dialog box that opens.

Show browser popup in the editor

If this check box is selected, the popup window with the enabled browsers appears in the HTML files.

If this check box is not selected, this popup window does not show up, thus helping you read or edit code.